kernowyon writes: According to this article from the BBC, Microsoft are expected to begin offering a cash back service to people who purchase goods from Microsoft's advertsing partners.
The announcement is expected to be made at the Microsoft Advance '08 conference soon.
In a leaked internal memo, Kevin Johnson states

The fact is that we are not where we want to be in this business yet and we've been in this position longer than we'd all like.

Offering cashback is Microsofts attempt to gain ground on Google's 60% share of the market.
The Cashback page is already live over at http://search.live.com/cashback

While it is certainly true that it has not taken off as fast as I would have hoped and publicly stated, certain countries around the world... have always been very, very insistent that they want Windows as an option

kernowyon writes: The BBC has an interview with Sir Tim Berners-Lee during his visit to the UK on their website currently.
In it, he voices his concern about the practice of tracking activity on the internet — with particular reference to Phorm.
Quotes Sir Tim with regard to his data — "It's mine — you can't have it. If you want to use it for something, then you have to negotiate with me."